


Sharpest Sting

by FanficAllergy, RoseFyre



Series: Patchwork - 50 Theme Challenge [31]
Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Gen, Pre-Canon, Random & Short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-13
Updated: 2018-03-13
Packaged: 2019-03-30 23:45:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13962657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanficAllergy/pseuds/FanficAllergy, https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseFyre/pseuds/RoseFyre
Summary: Haymitch has felt her sting many times. But none is more painful than the last.





	Sharpest Sting

**Author's Note:**

> Theme: 25: Honeybee  
> Words: 219  
> Summary: Haymitch has felt her sting many times. But none is more painful than the last.

**oOo**

 

He used to call her honeybee.  Because even though she flitted from boy to boy, you had to be careful of her tongue: her sting.  Hazelle knew just the right thing to say to cause the greatest harm or embarrassment. And she used it to great effect on those she felt deserved her wrath.

 

Haymitch knew that sting well.  He’d felt it many times; the price he paid for dating her younger sister, Myrtle.

 

Myrtle was everything Hazelle was not.  Sweet. Delicate. Demure. Why she condescended to date him, Haymitch never knew.  But he thanked his lucky stars every minute of every day that he had with her.

 

Until his luck ran out.

 

The fire haunts him. Still.  Always. The flames engulfing the building, turning into a towering inferno.  The sound of wood collapsing into dust. The scent of burning wood and burning flesh with just a hint of rose.  A message.

 

A warning.

 

At the funeral, he feels the honeybee’s sting once again.  The sharp crack. The palm against his cheek.

 

And the words.  

 

“You killed her!”

 

He doesn’t try to deny it.

 

“You should have died in the Games.”

 

He doesn’t deny that either.

 

That night, he buys his first bottle of white liquor.  It tastes like death burning down his throat. He welcomes it.

 

**oOo**

**Author's Note:**

> AN:  
> Written: 3/6/18  
> Revised: 3/12/18
> 
> More randomization!
> 
> The tense change was intentional - from past to present.
> 
> Hazelle has very little personality in canon. We know she exists, Katniss respects her, and she picked herself up and kept working after her husband died. That’s...about it. And Gale has to get his personality from someone.
> 
> You can get more information about our original writing here:  
> Website: https://www.roselarkpublishing.com/
> 
> Let us know what you think! Your reviews inspire us to write more. This is especially true with fic. Since we don’t get paid for this. ^_^ To those we do review, you’re the reason we haven’t abandoned our fics. We love you.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
